Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law: Natural Law in Jurisprudence and Politics

Natural law is a perennial though poorly represented and understood issue in political philosophy and the philosophy of law. In this 2006 book, Mark C. Murphy argues that the central thesis of natural law jurisprudence - that law is backed by decisive reasons for compliance - sets the agenda for natural law political philosophy, demonstrating how law gains its binding force by way of the common good of the political community. Murphy's work ranges over the central questions of natural law jurisprudence and political philosophy, including the formulation and defense of the natural law jurisprudential thesis, the nature of the common good, the connection between the promotion of the common good and requirement of obedience to law, and the justification of punishment.

Introduction; 1. Natural law jurisprudence formulated; 2. Natural law jurisprudence defended; 3. The common good; 4. The natural law rejection of consent theory; 5. A constant theory of the authority of law; 6. The authority of law and legal punishment; 7. Beneath and beyond the common good.